Fresno woman found herself trapped in Figarden Fitness Evolution

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- A Fresno woman found herself trapped in a gym with no way out. The ordeal for Stephanie Lopez turned from funny to frightening. She was locked inside the Figarden Fitness Evolution for nearly two hours. It was long enough she said to give her anxiety.

Lopez thought it was comical at first. She said no one came to tell her the Fitness Evolution was closing Monday night, and when she came out of the locker room everyone was gone.

A gym selfie was snapped right before Lopez realized her workout would became her freak out. "The minute I walked out, I was like whoa, hello, where's anybody at," Lopez said.

Lopez says she was showering in the locker room when the gym closed. The incident was funny at first, but became so stressful she suffered what her doctors told her was an anxiety attack.

"I just freaked out," she said. "I started sweating. My hand was going numb. My shoulders were heavy. My head started pounding. I have high blood pressure so my head was throbbing."

She says no one came into the locker rooms to announce the closing, or to clean up. She posted a picture to Facebook saying 'I'm locked in the gym, nobody is here.'

"I came out," she said. "Lights off. Walked to the front, thinking they're waiting for me. The door was locked, lights were off and I'm stuck. Literally just stuck, everyone's gone home."

She checked everywhere inside, even called out for help. "I even got on their microphone, their intercom," Lopez said. "I'm like 'hello!' screaming."

Minutes after calling 911 two Fresno police officers arrived. She posted a few pictures of them saying she was laughing with them initially. But at that point there was nothing they could do to get her out and then the situation became serious for all of them.

The good thing was Lopez said she found the number to the Fitness Evolution in Northeast Fresno. She called them for help, and a manager eventually came and unlocked the door, but Lopez wasn't happy with her reaction.

"She's like I'm so sorry," Lopez said. "She lets me out. But it wasn't like a real sheer concern. It was just kind of like 'oh, I'm tired.'"

Fitness Evolution did not respond to our calls for comment and a manager was not at the facility when an Action News reporter went inside.